The Letter
by patricia51
Summary: A somewhat familiar looking woman arrives at the Homestead to deliver a letter. Set sometime after the gang reunites after Season 3.


The Letter by patricia51

(A somewhat familiar looking woman arrives at the Homestead to deliver a letter. Set sometime after the gang reunites after Season 3.)

(I have been watching "War Paint" on Amazon over and over (And no, not just for the opportunity to pause in places just to marvel in Melanie's rear end in those leather pants. Really. I promise.) and the scene where the curse was ended and the Revenants disappeared stuck in my mind. What happened to them? While for some their fate would be obvious, what about Keith or Jarvis or Hui? Did they all deserve just to be plopped back into Hell? I doubt it. So this is what might have happened to my favorite Revenant of all.)

"Can I help you?" Wynonna Earp squinted against the bright sunshine as she asked the young woman standing on her front porch. She assumed that this person was the source of the knocking she had just answered.

"Are you Wynonna Earp?"

Bulsar, aka Sheriff Clootie, the Revenants and the Beekeepers were all long behind her now. Black Badge seemed a faraway distant memory. New enemies had been encountered when she and Randy Nedley had stormed the gate into Eden to rescue Nicole, Chrissy Nedley, Jeremy, Robin and the others before they had all joined together to aid Doc and Angel that was Waverly in their struggle. But any of those opponents that might have survived were safely left in that once more closed dimension. So it didn't seem like this girl, who looked vaguely familiar, was a threat. Besides, although she would never admit it, sometimes she was a little bored by all this peace and quiet.

All this flashed through her mind in an instant. "Yes."

"The great-great-granddaughter of Wyatt Earp?"

"The one and only." This was true after all since Waverly, although still in some ways the most "Earp" of all, was Julian the Angel's daughter.

"I have a letter for you."

"Oh? Can I have it?" Wynonna asked since she didn't see any sign of the object being referred to.

The young woman shifted from one foot to the other and back. "If it's possible, I would like to read it to you. Also, I have a list of people that it also concerns, if they could be gathered without too much of a waste of time."

"Who would that be?"

The girl apparently didn't need an actual list as she rattled off a list of names that didn't surprise Wynonna in the least. "Waverly Earp, Doc Holliday, Nicole Haught and Jeremy Chetri."

"Well, one of those at least is easy to arrange. Over her shoulder, she called "Doc!" In moments the famed gunslinger appeared. For once he was not wearing his hat. That would have been difficult since their daughter Alice Marie was sitting on his shoulders.

"Yes?"

"There is a letter for us," Wynonna indicated the young woman with one hand while she pulled out her cell phone with the other. After two brief conversations, she put her phone away. "The others will be here in a little while."

Her curiosity peaked even more now, Wynonna was tempted to pursue the subject further but decided it could wait. Indicating one of the chairs on the porch she asked: "Would you like to sit down while we wait?" In short order, the three adults were sitting, with Alice Marie now in her father's lap.

Doc studied the visitor with a puzzled look on his face. "Do I know you, young lady? You seem familiar," echoing Wynonna's own earlier thought. "What is your name?"

The woman smiled. "My name is Danielle. Danielle Cook. I'm sure that it doesn't mean anything to you but it is possible I remind you of someone. I will tell you as soon as the others arrive."

Nicole and Waverly arrived first in Nicole's cruiser. Jeremy was close behind, accompanied by Robin. A suggestion by Wynonna saw the group move inside to the dining room. Once all were seated she looked at the visitor.

"You have the floor, Ms Cook."

"Thank you. The young woman stood and swallowed, shifting back and forth from one foot to another. Fumbling in the pocketbook she had placed on the table she drew out a piece of paper. Although it was inside a plastic document protector, it was obvious the paper was old, much folded and spotted in places. Danielle took a deep breath.

"This letter has been passed down through my family for several generations. It was written shortly before she died by my great-great-grandmother, Rosita Bustillos O'Neil."

A shared gasp went around the room. Doc had been leaning back in his chair and almost toppled over as the front legs hit the floor. Fortunately, he had passed Alice Michelle to her mother before sitting down.

"Are you joking with us, young lady?" He demanded.

"I assure you I am not," Danielle returned calmly., She smiled. "Believe me when I tell you that my great-grandmother and my grammie were probably a great deal more skeptical than you all could be that this could all be true. They were convinced that Rosita had become senile and was imagining things. They kept the letter at first only to humor her."

"What changed?" Waverly asked.

"Along with this letter, she wrote down a number of events that she said she had lived through. Over the years she had also predicted when things were going to happen. As more and more of them turned out to happen, the family was forced to accept that she had indeed lived through all those years. In fact," Danielle looked embarrassed for a moment, "her memories allowed the family to become quite well off, finding a buried cache of gold and silver coins as well as allowing us to be prepared for the Great Depression and other events."

"But how?" It was Jeremy's turn to question.

"This," Danielle lifted the letter, "will explain what happened, if not how. May I read it now?"

"Go ahead," instructed Wynonna.

Danielle held the paper in both hands, took a deep breath and started to read aloud

"Hello everyone. I'm certain that all of you are surprised by this letter and whatever my descendant, hopefully, is telling you. Believe me, you are no more surprised than I am that I had the opportunity to write it.

"First of all, apologies are due to each and every one of you. Of course, Wynonna and Waverly are due the deepest ones. I'm sorry so much for what happened at Shorty's. I'm sorry I lost control, allowed my fear to overtake me and act as I did. Had I waited one moment to take a deep breath and get hold of myself I would never have acted as I did. But I DID hit Waverly and try to steal your baby, Wynonna, and I will never be able to apologize enough for either action.

"I was scared. I admit it. Scared? I was terrified. Wynonna, all I could think of was our confrontation in Shorty's. Seeing Peacemaker's barrel glow as you laid it on the bar and your quiet 'There it is'. You knew I was a Revenant and that meant I was your enemy. For an instant, before Doc came down and showed I was under his protection, I thought you were going to shoot me right then and there. Offering to "shoot me last' was not very reassuring. And I was angry that you thought I needed to be threatened to help Nicole. I'm sorry.

"Waverly, I tried to knock you out. I'm sorry for that but even more so that I lost faith in you. Yes, you told Wynonna about me practically only hours after you said you wouldn't. But I know that you were frantic with worry over Nicole. And I was never more proud of you than when you drew down on me with Peacemaker and made it fire. By the way, I WAS rather relieved that it didn't send me back to Hell. And Nicole I apologize for hitting the love of your life whom I also had believed was my best friend.

"Doc, you trusted me and I let you down. You offered me protection and repeated the gesture in front of Wynonna. Maybe it was because I was in love with you while I knew your heart was given elsewhere that helped me make that very bad decision. I'm sorry.

"And Jeremy, perhaps I owe you the greatest apology of all. When you found out I was a Revenant your attitude towards me didn't change a bit. You treated me just the same. In fact, when I was your guinea pig you protested at the pain I was undergoing. Remember? 'I didn't sign up for this'.

"Enough. I'm sorry. I have excuses but those aren't reasons enough for what I did. I hope you all will forgive me although I certainly have no way of knowing if you do or don't.

"So, to change the subject to something new. How did I come to be writing this letter? Four words. 'I have no idea'.

"After what happened at Shorty's I ran and hid, mostly out in the woods. I finally settled in an abandoned cabin not a mile away from the Homestead. I figured you all would not look that close and the occasional glimpses I caught of each of you gave me hope I might come up with a way to make amends.

"I was away when the battle at the Homestead broke out. Even Revenants need groceries. I returned just to see Wynonna leaving with a group of Revenants following her. And obviously supporting her. I thought this might be my chance and hurried to catch up. Just as I thought I was about to do so, Wynonna you confronted Bulsar and the curse was broken. I saw the rest of the Revenants fade away and realized whatever was going on was happening to me as well. I had only a split-second for a desperate prayer and then I awoke.

"To my utter astonishment, I wasn't in Hell. I was in Yuma, Arizona and it was 1897 again. How do I know? Because as I came to, I knew it was the day I had 'The worst second date ever'. This time I didn't though. I was on the other side of town, with my boyfriend, when the gunfight between Wyatt and Dan. Incidentally, I tried to warn Dan but he wouldn't listen.

"But I did. I listened to whatever power gave me a second chance. Waverly, I told you not to waste time 'giving Nicole some space'. I took my own advice. I let Mike know exactly how I felt. And we were together for nearly forty years. I pray that Waverly and Nicole, Jeremy and Robin (I kept up with you my friend) and yes, Wynonna and Doc too, all have at least that long to be together. And beyond. I am sure that Mike is waiting for me on the other side.

"I have tried to live my life as best as I could. I have cherished my children, my grandchildren, my friends and everyone I came in contact that I could give something to, even if it was only a few minutes of my time.

"I kept my mouth shut for most of my restored life. After all, I wasn't here for the first years. But my family perked up one morning when I awoke and announced at breakfast the Wyatt had died. That was when I came back before. Although they all had a hard time believing some of what I said, I remembered enough that they were convinced of a good bit of what I told them. And my granddaughter Serene has written this down as I told it and promises to pass it on until the day comes that it can be brought to you.

"I think of you all the time. I wonder what might have happened if I had not let my fears take over, but then I have so much to be thankful for now. I keep you in my prayers, all of you and some of the other Revenants. They weren't of them all bad you know and some of them didn't seem to be deserving of their punishment (although heaven knows many of them did). It's rather confusing I suppose, since his death won't be for decades but I have a Mass said annually for Xavier Dolls.

"I hope this letter finds you all and finds you well.

"Rosita Bustillos O'Neil."

(The End)


End file.
